Marie Danberry

I was given clearance by my cardiologist to have our third and final embryo (which had been cryopreserved) transferred to me, and that transfer occurred on 7-11-2019. Fast forward almost five days, and I was already showing a positive pregnancy test. Yes, since no egg retrieval was involved, no false positives were possible in this case.

On day 11 post transfer, I had my blood HCG test. At 194, my level was great; however, my day 13 post transfer blood test dropped to 155. Not good.

When I saw those results on my electronic patient portal, I knew what that meant well before the doctor even called: I was losing the baby. At least I had time to digest the news, otherwise I may have broken down when the doctor called. We did one more HCG test two days later just to be sure, but my levels dropped again to 89. It was confirmed, I lost the baby.

The rough news: I knew this was going to be a long, expensive hall. The good news: in my case, we knew the exact cause of my infertility. There was really no need for additional testing (at least when it came to determining the cause). Premature ovarian failure it was.

I went to the first appointment armed with my cardiac MRI results. Just as I suspected, the very first question asked was, "How's your heart?" They also made sure my kidneys exhibited no issues by conducting a renal ultrasound.

We were making progress, and I soon began "the big guns" (as the nurse referred to them) in preparation for the trial transfer. What are the big guns, you ask? Well, Estradiol Valerate and Progesterone in oil (intramuscular injections). Remember, the route of administration can make a world of difference.

My husband and I first visited the University of Minnesota to see what our options were. To be honest, I wish we hadn't. The appointment only left me feeling frustrated and utterly hopeless. When we meet with that Reproductive Endocrinologist, he was very skeptical and hesitant.

Despite having no history of heart or kidney issues, he was reluctant to touch anyone with Turner Syndrome; and he almost scoffed at the notion of a warranty program. He made it sound like IVF would never work for someone like me (before even conducting any tests to back up that claim), but he stopped just short of saying, "Absolutely not. I won't do it."

The doctors never brought that up, but I have heard about it. They struggle to see even the one ovary, and I've had countless ultrasounds at this point.

My husband and I opted to use the warranty program that was graciously offered through our clinic's partner, Attain Fertility. If we were going to spend tens of thousands, we certainly didn't want to go home childless.

So, how exactly does this program guarantee a baby? Well, you're given six opportunities:

1. Fresh cycle

2. Frozen cycle

3. Fresh cycle

4. Frozen cycle

5. Fresh cycle

6. Frozen cycle

If you are not successful after attempt number six, you are refunded all of your money (save the medication costs, which can still amount to a few thousand dollars). But my heart skipped a few beats when the donor egg coordinator called me with some very depressing news.

She sadly but factually informed me, "I'm sorry, but Attain denied you for their program. I believe it's because of your Turner Syndrome diagnosis. You may still go through with everything, just without the warranty."

And here I thought we had all of our ducks in a row, but we nevertheless encountered yet another hurdle. Thankfully, the entire situation was remedied when our main Reproductive Endocrinologist/OBGYN called Attain and set them straight. I'm not 100% sure what he told them, but I was approved within a couple days of being denied.

I won't lie: there were myriad nights I cried myself to sleep.  How in the world was I ever going to come up with the money needed for IVF?  After all, nearly all insurance companies in the United States do not cover IVF cycles (including mine).  Saving at least $17,000 seemed like an insurmountable goal, to put it mildly; especially with student loans thrown in the mix.

To make a long story short, we miraculously managed to save approximately $15,000 of our own money (something I never dreamed possible).  I then maxed out on our medical flex spending account for the 2013 calendar year, providing us with an additional $5,000.  Well, $20,000 was not quite enough.  See, we opted to go with a warranty program through Attain Fertility (which I will explain in more detail later).  That program basically doubled our overall cost and increased the amount to $32,000; however, we were guaranteed a child or our money back (save the medication expenses).  If it’s any consolation, $32,000 compared to the overall cost of raising a child is literally nothing.

What about the remaining $12,000?  Fortunately, we were approved for an unsecured loan through NBT Bank: a financial institution that partnered with our clinic to assist clients/patients with funding needs.  But wait?  Unsecured?  Aren’t interest rates for unsecured loans horrendously high?  Yes, normally they are; however, thanks to our good credit and a compassionate bank, we were able to secure a 6.something% interest rate (compared to the 10+% that normally accompanies an unsecured loan).  (Forgive me, but I cannot remember the exact percentage.)

As a final note, we know a couple who had some success with a GoFundMe page.  My husband and I did not go that route, and it’s certainly not for everyone (especially for those wanted to be discrete); but it may be an option.

At any rate, I posted the links below.  As mentioned, I will explain in detail more about how the warranty program works (and how I was initially rejected from the program solely because of my Turner Syndrome diagnosis).  Stay tuned :-)!

https://attainfertility.com/

My husband (whom I will call D) and I meet in early 2009 and got married in December of 2011. It took a ton of financial planning, but we now have two beautiful boys thanks to donor egg IVF.

Our first, B, was a 5-day fresh embryo transfer. He was born in February of 2014 and is now 5 years old. Our second, L, was a 5-day frozen embryo transfer. He was born in September of 2016 and is now 2 years old. We still have one embryo left, and whether or not we use it is still open for debate. I did experience issues with both pregnancies, which I will talk about in later posts. The cost of daycare is certainly another obstacle.

It's hard to believe B will be starting Kindergarten this fall! Wow, time does indeed fly by!